


SURViVAL

by OneRiot_OneRanger



Category: Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Bad at tagging, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Will Add More Later, Zach needs a hug, is and isn’t true to movies, thats confusing sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:34:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24194386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneRiot_OneRanger/pseuds/OneRiot_OneRanger
Summary: It’s been a year since the events of Jurassic World and Zach feels forgotten. But Owen invites him to visit and things start to change.
Relationships: Owen Grady/Zach Mitchell
Comments: 5
Kudos: 55





	1. Anniversary of Disaster

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I was supposed to be adding to a different story.  
> No, I didn’t actually do that.  
> Yeah, I was writing this instead.
> 
> This was an idea I had had a while back and decided to work on because why not. Plus I’m bored and tired and more Zackwen is a good thing, right?

“While Masrani corporation has yet to release an official statement about what transpired at Jurassic World, many survivors have now come forward with their personal stories of what happened. More on this tonight at eight.”

Zach turned off the news and flung the remote onto the couch. This was the one year anniversary of it all. The trip to Jurassic World to visit Aunt Claire, Zach’s decision to head out further in the gyrosphere, the subsequent run from the Indominus, and the fight that ended everything.  
A whole year. Yet Masrani still wasn’t going to say what had really happened. Zach knew that whatever the so called survivors would claim tonight on the news would either be false or not the whole story. Anybody who actually knew what happened had been paid very well to keep quiet until Masrani said something about it. Zach was starting to believe that they never would though. 

He wasn’t even sure that anybody remembered what today meant. Gray was completely wrapped up in his studies and they hadn’t talked in nearly a week. This was normal but, still, it was exactly a year ago that they were escaping the pterodons and gearing up for...  
Zach pulled his legs up and hugged them. Aunt Claire of course was still wrapped up in figuring things out with Masrani corporation, not that he had honestly expected her to keep in contact. His mom might have said something if she had been around, but Zach had used some of his keep-quiet money to rent a cheap apartment as soon as he had turned eighteen, so there wasn’t much communication there anymore. Who knew what his father would have done.  
Zach really didn’t need to, but he had gotten a job at a small clothing store just to have something to keep him busy. He wasn’t ready for college yet. 

As if his life wasn’t bad enough today, he had gotten laid off. He couldn’t blame them really. They were a small mostly family-owned second hand clothes store. They couldn’t afford to keep Zach on the payroll right now. That’s just the way things were. Not that it made it any easier for Zach. He was just tired. Tired of living, tired of trudging through every day, tired of waiting for a change that wasn’t going to come. 

Zach got up to fix himself some food. He wasn’t exactly hungry, but he knew that he needed to eat. He quietly heated up some pizza and was about to pour himself a glass of water when his phone rang. Zach flinched and dropped the cup. He had forgotten that his phone wasn’t on vibrate. Thankfully the cup was plastic.  
“Hello? Who is it?” Zach hadn’t bothered to look at who was calling. He knew it wasn’t Gray, wrong ringtone, and he hoped that it wasn’t a reporter.  
“Zach! Come on, I know you have my number.”  
“Owen?” Zach hadn’t expected Owen to call, they had only talked a few times over the past few months.  
“Right on the first try kiddo!”  
“Hey, I’m not a kid anymore, I’m eighteen now!”  
“I missed your birthday? Shoot, well, happy birthday!”  
“You’re like, eleven months too late, Owen.”  
“So, how’re you holding up today?”  
“Things have been better but they could be worse.”  
“Zach, that’s one of the lamest attempts at trying to avoid saying that things aren’t great.”  
Zach sighed and bent down to pick up the cup.  
“Ok, fine. It’s not great. Happy?”  
“It’s a start. How’s Gray and Claire?”  
“I wouldn’t know.”  
“They haven’t called?”  
“No.”  
Owen didn’t say anything for a while and Zach wasn’t about to be the one to break the silence.  
“Zach,” Owen’s voice has lost some of its brightness, “I want you to be completely honest with me. How has today been for you?”  
“It...” Zach paused, considering what to say, “it’s been pretty crappy. Aunt Claire and Gray have been too busy to call, and I got laid off of my job, and I just feel tired out and drained.”  
“Well that settles it then.”  
“I’m sorry, what?” Talking to Owen was always a bit of a whirlwind but this was just crazy.  
“You can come visit me for a while, we can hang out, maybe go camping, I can show you the house I’m building.”  
“Owen, I don’t know...”  
“Cmon Zach, you have some time off now and I think it’ll be good for you to change things up a little, to get out and have a little fun.”  
“You know, the last time I was told something would be fun it turned out to be traumatizing instead.”  
Zach heard Owen sigh and felt kind of bad.  
“So, I guess if you can promise that you won’t traumatize me with your jokes, I’ll... I’ll come visit.”  
“Woohoo!”  
Zach jerked the phone away from his ear and winced.  
“I’ll send you the address and you can head over tomorrow. You’ll probably be here in like ten hours.”  
“Yeah, cause that’s a totally reasonable time to be driving.”  
Owen laughed and Zach rolled his eyes.  
“Is there anything specific I should bring?” Zach asked.  
“Um, just your clothes and maybe some stuff for s’mores?”  
“Sounds good. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”  
“You too!”  
Zach closed the phone and stared down at his cooling pizza.  
“I hope this isn’t a mistake,” Zach thought. He dumped his untouched supper in the trash and headed into his room to try and get some sleep. 

Zach tiredly packed the next morning. He had tossed and turned half the night and was by no means in any mood to deal with the technicals of packing, but he had said he would go visit. He didn’t want to become like his Aunt Claire and he figured always keeping his promises was the best way to start. Thankfully, he managed to pack quickly and stopped to tell his landlord that he’d be out for a while but that everything was turned off and unplugged. 

The drive wasn’t unpleasant with his windows rolled down and one of his favorite playlists blaring through the speakers. As Owen had suggested, the drive was just about ten hours when he stopped for s’mores supplies. But getting to Owen’s new home became a lot harder after that. 

He had just turned into the final road that would take him to Owen’s when his gps lost signal. Well, it was actually little more than a bumpy dirt path just wide enough for his car drive up the side of a mountain, but Zach was willing to overlook that since Owen had been used to Isla Nublar’s terrain. In many ways it actually reminded him of the island, with the tall trees and rough terrain and being able to smell the ocean somewhere nearby. Unfortunately, his car wasn’t suited for a ten mile trek in such conditions. Zach was three miles down the road when he saw an unexpectedly large pothole. He jerked the wheel hard right, causing his car to bump into the rougher area beside the road before ending up wedged between two trees.  
Zach didn’t move for awhile, shocked into stillness. When he finally started moving again, he discovered that the driver’s door wouldn’t open. In the end he had to climb out through the one of back doors. 

Zach went back and forth from surveying the damage to his car and staring blankly at the “no signal” message on his phone.  
Of course, because a car wreck wasn’t bad enough, was it? Zach finally broke his pattern to look up at the sky. He decided that he was gonna have to walk the rest of the way to Owen’s place if he was going to get help. So he started off down the road, humming to himself as he walked. 

Three hours later and Zach was extremely worried. He hadn’t thought to bring any water with him and, while it wasn’t hot out in the middle of whatever state he was in by now, he couldn’t really remember the last time he had had water. He was probably dehydrated, and on top of that, he wasn’t sure if it was getting dark because the sun was setting or because there was a storm rolling in over the mountains. Or maybe both. Zach quickened his pace, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long. He kept moving even as the light faded and the wind started blowing the trees harder. It was all too similar to the way Isla Nublar had looked at night. Thunder rumbled in the distance, startling Zach. He stopped, trying desperately to stay focused, but it was too hard. It started to rain and he stumbled forward, knowing that he needed to find shelter, but he had no idea how far away it was. Zach tripped and sprawled in the middle of a newly forming mud puddle. He couldn’t keep this up anymore. It was too much. He just wanted to give up and lay there until someone found him. But the rain was cold and he could hear something roaring and getting closer now. He panicked and scrambled up, barely noticing that one of his sneakers had come off as he did his best to hide in the edge of the jungle.

••••••••••

Owen wasn’t one to overly stress about things, but he figured he was about to add another item to his list of things that had made him pace nervously. Zach was supposed to have been here by now and there was a giant storm rolling in. Had briefly considered the fact that Zach had decided to ditch him and wasn’t coming at all, but he knew that Zach would have at least made up an excuse and let him know. At least, he hoped that Zach would have done that. He had also tried calling and leaving voicemails, but there was never an answer. Finally, Owen couldn’t take it any longer. He grabbed his keys and rain coat and hopped into his Jeep. It couldn’t hurt to scout down the road, just in case. 

The rain started pouring as he started the engine and eased onto the road. He flicked the brights on and went slowly, searching left and right as he drove. He was only about a mile out when he saw something in the middle of the road and braked hard. He scrambled out of the Jeep and picked up the muddy sneaker. There was never anybody out here and he could only think of one person it could belong to.  
“Zach!” He shouted. “Zach! Can you hear me? It’s Owen!”  
He couldn’t hear a response but figured that he had to be close.  
Owen rushed to the edge of the woods and called Zach’s name again. He was about to check the other side of the road when he paused. Yeah, there it was again.  
“Owen?”  
“Zach! I’m coming! Keep calling out if you can!”  
It was faint, but there was no mistaking the kid’s voice. He made his way slowly through the woods, doing his best to track where Zach’s voice was coming from. It wasn’t long before Owen found him.  
“Zach, I’m here. I’m gonna get you to shelter, but I need to know if you’re hurt before I move you. Can you tell me if you’re hurt?”  
“Cold,” Zach answered slowly, “thirsty.”  
“Ok, I’m gonna get you back to my trailer and get you warm.”  
It took a bit of maneuvering to get Zach in a position to where Owen could carry him without dropping him. They managed to get to the Jeep without mishap and Owen carefully set Zach inside. As he was buckling him in, Owen noticed blood dripping down Zach’s forehead.  
“Oh my God, Zach, your forehead is bleeding! Why didn’t you tell me?”  
“Dinosaurs coming,” Zach mumbled, “tripped.”  
Zach must have fallen and hit his head on a rock. The poor kid thought he was being chased by dinosaurs. 

Owen ran to his side of the Jeep and hopped in. It wasn’t long before they were at Owen’s trailer and he was getting Zach inside. Owen brought Zach into his bedroom and realized that he needed to get Zach out of the wet clothes.  
“Sorry, kid,” he mumbled as he proceed to remove Zach’s shirt, shoes and pants. He figured the rest could wait until Zach could do it himself. There were no injuries that he could see, just a few light scars that could barely be seen. He bundled Zach up in a blanket and went to grab a towel and some water. He poured a little water on Zach’s lips, which Zach drank, and did his best to gently dry Zach’s hair with the towel. When he was done, he sat back and watched Zach drift to sleep. He knew Zach would recover physically, but he couldn’t help but wonder how he would be mentally and emotionally when he woke up. Owen shook his head and left the water on the bedside table for later. He would let Zach rest for now and then try to figure out what happened once he woke up.


	2. Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about how long it took me to get this written. It’s been a rough couple of months. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope y’all enjoy this next chapter and I’ll do my best to be a little more consistent with posting.

The trees overhead were swaying in the wind. He could smell the rain in the air. He could feel the storm brewing. He was lost in the middle of the jungle, unsure which way to go to get back to the paddock. The ground shook and the Indominus Rex emerged from the trees. He froze, staring up at the terrifying sight of the dinosaur. She spotted him and let out an earth shaking roar before charging. He turned and ran as hard as he could, desperately trying to figure out where he could go that would be safe from this monster.   
“Zach.”  
He heard someone call his name but didn’t know who it could be.  
“Zach.”  
He realized that he actually recognized the voice. It was Owen. He glanced around hoping that Owen would know what to do. But looking around distracted him and he tripped over one of the tree roots. The Idominous reached him only seconds later and he screamed.

••••••••••

Owen had come in about an hour later to check on Zach and found him struggling and mumbling in his sleep. The poor kid was having a nightmare. He crouched next to the bed and started to gently shake him.   
“Zach,” he called softly.  
Nothing seemed to happen so he tried again.  
“Zach.”  
He was just about to try a third time when Zach suddenly woke up, screaming.  
“Zach,” Owen knew better than to yell right now, “it’s ok, Zach. It was just a dream. You’re safe, Zach.”  
It took Zach a little bit to fully wake up and realize that he was safe.   
“Owen?”   
“I’m right here, Zach.”  
“Owen, I... I...” Zach broke off and started sobbing.  
Owen grabbed another blanket and gently wrapped it around Zach.   
“Shh. It’s ok, Zach, you’re safe.”  
It was a while before either of them moved, Zach slowly wearing himself out and Owen comforting him until he had cried himself asleep. 

••••••••••

When Zach woke up, he wasn’t sure where he was. This wasn’t his bed, this wasn’t his room, and his head felt like it was going to explode. He looked around, slowly trying to figure out where he was. It was kinda cramped in the room, just the bed he was in, some cabinets above the bed, a closet, and a door that led...   
He wasn’t sure where it went, cause he didn’t know where he was to begin with. 

Zach thought back through what he remembered. It was the “anniversary” the Jurassic World incident.   
“They really need to find a better word than anniversary,” Zach thought as he fooled his eyes. He immediately winced and made a mental note to not do that again.  
He remembered that it had been a horrible day, but then Owen...  
“Owen! Oh, oh no.”  
Zach remembered now and that was almost worse than not knowing. The wreck, the stupidly long road, the storm, his flashback.   
He still didn’t know how, exactly, but he was sure he was at Owen’s place.   
“Owen?” Zach called out, but his voice was rough and scratchy so it probably didn’t sound right. 

The bed started swaying gently which completely freaked him out. The door to the bedroom opened and Owen stood in the doorway.   
“You ok?” He asked, a worried look on his face.  
“Um, I guess. Where am I and why is the bed swaying?” Zach asked.  
Owen snorted and grinned before answering.  
“You’re in the bedroom of my camper trailer. And camper trailers tend to sway a little when anybody walks around. So it’s the whole thing, not just the bed. Though that would be pretty cool.”  
Zach laughed a little, but winced cause that hurt too.   
“Hey, you ok?” Owen asked again.  
“Yeah, my head just hurts.”   
“I’ll grab you some Tylenol and a glass of water real quick.”  
He left and the trailer, since it was apparently everything and not just the bed, started swaying again.  
“That’s gonna take some getting used to.” 

Owen came back quickly with the water and a pill, which Zach was thankful for.  
“So how did I get here?” Zach asked after finishing the glass of water.  
“It was getting late, and the storm was getting worse. Since I hadn’t heard from you, I decided to scout down the road. Saw your shoe laying in the middle of the road, so I stopped and managed to find you a little bit off the road in the woods. Brought you back here and...” Owen shrugged, finished with his story.   
“How’d you end up there?”  
Zach had to think for second since his brain was still kinda fuzzy.  
“Well, I turned onto your...” Zach arched an eyebrow, “...road? Driveway?”  
“Either works but it’s technically a road,” Owen answered.  
“No, it technically sucks. Got a little ways down and saw this pothole that looked like it would swallow my car. So I did what any sensible idiot would do and tried to blaze a trail through the woods. It didn’t work, so I started walking after I couldn’t get any signal to call you. Which, by the way, what even? Do you not have cell service here? Do you even have WiFi?”  
“You ask the man who lived in a jungle on an island if he has WiFi?”  
“It was a really high-tech jungle island and you can’t tell me you didn’t have some way to read the news.”  
Owen just shrugged again.

“Anyway, it started raining after a long time and then I decided it was safer in the edge of the woods. And then I remember waking up here.”  
Owen looked at him for a few seconds, then shrugged again.   
“You don’t remember anything else?” He asked.  
“Should I?”  
Owen shrugged.  
“Would you quit it with the shrugging.”  
Owen laughed.  
“Ok, yeah. Are you usually this talkative or is it just a situational thing?”  
Zach shrugged.   
“Ok, I deserve that,” Owen chuckled. “You feel up to some food?”  
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.”   
“Eggs and toast good?”  
Zach shrugged, “Whatever you have.”   
Owen glared and then stalked out of the room, setting the trailer swaying again. 

Zach slowly sat up, thankful that the pain in his head was starting to ease. He glanced at the empty glass, wishing he had some more water. It was as he was standing up to go find more water that he realized he was only in his underwear.  
“Owen!” Zach yelled.  
It was only a few seconds before Owen burst into the bedroom with a concerned look on his face.   
“What’s wrong?” Owen asked as Zach desperately flung one of the blankets around himself.   
“Where are my clothes?”   
Owen stared blankly at him before bursting into laughter.  
“What exactly do you find funny about this, Owen?!”  
“I thought... didn’t realize...” he managed to get out between fits of laughter.   
Zach tried to cross his arms and give Owen a disapproving glare, but he knew the overall effect was canceled out by the blanket.   
“Ahem, sorry,” Owen apologizes once he calmed down. “They were soaked last night so I had to get them off so you wouldn’t catch cold or something.”   
“And where are they now?” Zach sighed.  
“Um... funny story.”  
Zach arched an eyebrow.  
“See I forgot to put them in the washer so unless you had some extras on you that would be dry, you’ll have to wear some of mine.”  
Zach moaned and flopped back onto the bed in resignation.   
Owen chuckled some more as he sorted through the closet to find something Zach might fit into.   
“Here, these will probably be the closest I have to something fitting you.” Owen tossed the clothes on the bed and closed the door as he headed out.  
Zach may still for a few minutes before moving to put them on.   
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” he mumbled to himself when he saw the shirt.   
The exercise shorts fit pretty well but the T-shirt was overly large for Zach. The worst part was that it was a Jurassic World shirt.   
“Really, Owen?” Zach shouted through the door.  
“It’s either that or my old leather vest,” Owen called back.   
Zach winced at the mental image and resigned himself to his current apparel.


	3. Update

Hey guys, I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated this so I figured I’d check in.  
I’m still working on this story, there’s just been a lot going on and I’ve gotten kinda stuck. So, I know it’s not a new chapter but I wanted to wish y’all Merry Christmas and happy holidays and let y’all know that this hasn’t been abandoned.

**Author's Note:**

> More to come later, but for now I hope y’all enjoyed this part. Feel free to give any feedback


End file.
